TECH NEWS – The U.S. president seems to be stirring things up again, because one of the parties involved has reportedly reacted to his announcement.
In a late-night Truth Social post, which effectively confirms long-circulating supply-chain rumors and reports, Trump revealed details of the chip manufacturing agreement between Apple and Intel, sparking a storm of speculation over what comes next for the now-rising chipmaker. Trump staged a kind of victory lap by praising Intel’s rapidly expanding order book, which now includes prestigious customers such as Nvidia, Elon Musk’s Terafab project, and Apple, then boasted that the U.S. government holds a 10% stake in Intel, currently worth around $60 billion.
TRUMP: Says U.S. helped Intel as Nvidia, Elon Musk and Apple agreed to build chips in America; says U.S. got 10% stake worth over $60 billion pic.twitter.com/MuQoWGEgXZ
– Trump Truths (@trumptruthsbot) June 18, 2026
Trump’s statement about Apple is attracting the most attention. Specifically, his suggestion that Apple would design and manufacture its chips in Intel factories has drawn notice, especially because it expands the scope of the planned partnership from contract manufacturing to design collaboration as well. This came after Apple and Intel reportedly signed a preliminary chip manufacturing agreement in May. Although the details of the agreement are not yet known, it is likely similar to the arrangement between Apple and TSMC, under which the former designs custom chips based on ARM intellectual property while the latter manufactures them on its advanced production lines.
Under this provisional cooperation, Apple is expected to use Intel’s 18A-P manufacturing process to produce base-model M7 chips, which are expected to reach the market in 2027. In addition, the Cupertino tech giant is expected to manufacture its A22 chip, arriving in 2028, using either Intel’s 18A-P manufacturing process or the more advanced 14A, and around 80% of Apple’s orders placed with Intel are reportedly linked to this iPhone-bound chip. The latest rumors suggest that Apple will use TSMC’s 1.4 nm manufacturing technology for its A22 Pro chips. That further increases the likelihood that Apple will choose Intel’s 14A manufacturing technology for the base A22 chips.
Intel and Apple have been in talks about potential US manufacturing for months, sources say. The status of those talks could not be learned. Intel executives were surprised by the President’s post. $INTC $AAPL
– Rohan Goswami (@rogoswami) June 18, 2026
Accordingly, Apple has already obtained Intel PDK samples to evaluate the 18A-P manufacturing technology. GF Securities believes that Apple’s upcoming ASIC, referred to as Baltra and expected to launch in 2027 or 2028, will also use Intel’s EMIB packaging. Rohan Goswami of Semafor said Trump’s Truth Social post came as a surprise to Intel, and some executives were reportedly surprised by the sudden public disclosure, suggesting that matters involving Apple may not be as straightforward as Trump would like to believe.
Source: WCCFTech
